Soap cake holder



June 16, 1964 Filed April 8, 1965 SOAP INVENTOR.

ERNEST F JAMES h/qww United States Patent 3,137,086 SOAP CAKE HOLDERErnest F. James, 1807 W. Northview, Phoenix, Ariz. Filed Apr. 8, 1963,Ser. No. 271,060 7 Claims. (Cl. 45-28) This invention relates to a soapcake holder and more particularly to a novel soap cake holder having aflexible foraminous fabric soap cake supporting structure carried byasemirigid outline frame having poleless portions which are abridged bythe fabric soap cake support.

Various soap cake holders have been utilized to drain moisture awayfroma soap cake after use so that the soap cake readily dries anddoesnot dissolve at an unwarranted rate.

Conventional soap cake holders usually comprise a tray or grid structuredesigned to support a soap cake and to permit drainage therefrom,however, many of the soap cake holders now in use are difficult to cleansince dried soap tends to collect on the grid structure of soap cakeholders which are made of rigid material.

Many of the prior art soap cake holders are made of rigid material andconsequently are quite heavy, thus requiring strong fixtures orpermanent incorporation into bathroom wall or tub structures.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novelsoap cake holder composed of an outline frame of semirigid materialhaving spaced frame portions over which an abridging flexible foraminousfabric is supported thereby providing a very light weight soap oakeholder which is easy to clean and which may be supported by vacuum cupsor other simple supporting structure in connection with the greatvariety of smooth or other surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a soap cake holder havinga frame from which a flexible foraminous cover is readily removable sothat it may readily be washed after having supported soap cakes for agiven period of time.

3 Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel soapcake holder which may be composed or constructed of a simple outlinewire frame and flexible foraminous fabric material such as cotton clothof various kinds.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel soap cake holderhaving a very novel wire frame structure provided with loop portionscoupled to conventional vacuum cups for conveniently supporting the soapcake holder of the invention on various surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel soap cake holdercomposed of a plurality of continuous coils of wire between which aflexible fabric foraminous material is clamped thereby to provide anovel means for supporting the flexible material and to permit a simplemeans for removing and replacing the fabric material for cleaning itwhile permitting the frame to be fixed in a stationary position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel soap cake holderhaving an outlineframe abridged by soft flexible foraminous fabricwhereby the soap cake may be supported between the spaced frame membersand on the flexible foraminous fabric structure so that the soap cakeafter being wet and placed on the fabric 3,137,086 Patented June 16,1964.

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will be efliciently aerated and dried without causing a substantialamount of the soap cake to be dissolved.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel soap cake holderhaving an outline frame on which a soft flexible foraminous fabricmaterial may be supported for holding a soap cake; said material beingadapted for use as a wash cloth preliminary to replacement thereof inconnection with the frame and for supporting the soap cake thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel soap cake holdercomposed of a simple wire frame which may be made by an automatic wiremachinery and a soft flexible foraminous fabric stretcher which mayreadily be detachably secured to the frame.

Further objects and advantages of the invention may be apparent from thefollowing specifications, appended claims and accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational of a soap cake holder in accordance withthe present invention showing portions thereof broken away and insection to amplify the illustration and showing a soap cake supported onthe flexible foraminous fabric structure of the holder;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken from the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken from the line4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken from the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a modified soap cake holder of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view taken from the line 7-7 of FIG.6; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view taken from the line 88 of FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings the soap cake holder of the inventionis provided with a frame 10 which may a be made of wire or any othersuitable material, as for material which is substantially noncorrosive.

The frame 10 as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings is provided with spacedframe portions 12 and 14 which are substantially parallel to each otherand also spaced frame portions 16 and 18 which are substantiallyparallel to each other, all of said frame portions being formedin asingle continuous piece of wire to provide a rectangular open outlineframe structure which is abridged by a soft flexible foraminous fabric20 which may be of various materials such as cotton, synthetic materialsor any suitable material which is foraminous and in accordance with thefollowing requirements.

The spaced frame portions 12 and 14 are provided with loops 22 and 24which support shank portions 26 and 28 of vacuum cups 30 and 32; theseare conventional vacuum cups having concave surface portions 34 and 36adapted to be coupled in the conventional way to a smooth surface 38which may be any suitable surface so desired, as for example adjacent asink, shower, tub or other household fixture or appliance.

The frame 10 is also provided with integral loops 40 and 42 disposed toreceive shanks 44 of the vacuum cups to the loops 49 and 4-2 aredisposed to hold soap cake holder of the inventionin connection with asubstantial vertical surface 48, thus the loops 4t) and 42 are disposedat substantially right angles with respect to the loops 22 and 24; theseloops & and 42 are formed integral with the wire structure of the frame10, all as shown best in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings.

''The frame is provided with upwardly directed loops or folded portions50 which are disposed at corners 52, 54, 56 and 58 of the frame 10.

Additionally, intermediate upwardly extending loops 60 and 62 are formedin the side frame portions 16 and 18- so that all of these upwardlyextending loop portions are disposed to support and hold removablestructure of the fabric 20.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 5, the fabric struc ture is providedwith spaced channel shaped portions 64 and 66 which are formed by sewingopposite side portions 68 and 7t and 72 and 74 of these channel portionstogether but leavin open portions in the hem for the loop portions 50 toproject upwardly into the channel portions 64 and 66, thus these channelportions 64 and 66 provide upwardly extending sides opposite side frameportions 16 and 18 of the frame It) and the soap cake is supported onthe upper surface of the foraminous fabric 24 as shown best in FIG. 1 ofthe-drawings.

It will be seen that the fabric channels having spaced open portions inthe stitching provide pockets for the upwardly extending loops 50 tothereby form a removable support of the flexible fabric structure 20 andthe frame 10.

It will be appreciated that this soap cake holder is a very light weightstructure composed of the semirigid outline Wire frame and theforaminous flexible fabric cover and that the cover itself may be usedas a wash rag which provides a utilitarian structure which between usessupports a soap cake and during the use is automatically cleaned bywashing action accomplished by use of the cover as a wash rag.

The facility of washing the fabric structure 20 will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art since the usual fixed rigid grid structure ofsoap cake holders is very diflicult to clean and must be engaged by abrush or by another instrument properly to accomplish such cleaningoperations, thus the simple cleaning operation of the fabric structure20' of the invention and its simple removability from the frame 10renders. the soap cake holder of the invention very novel and useful.

In the modification of the invention as shown in FIG- URES 6 to 8 of thedrawings an outline frame 76 is preferably made of wire and is formedinto a pair of contiguous coil loops 78 and 8t) much similar to adjacentcoils of a closed loop coil spring. These coil loops 78 and 80 areformed in a single continuous piece of wire having one free end 82 and asecond free end 84. The free end 84 forms a terminus of a cross member86 which extends across the outline frame 76 and this cross member 86 isprovided with a pair of loop portions 88 and 90 disposed to hold shanksof vacuum cups 92 and 94, respectively,

which are adapted to support the frame 76 on a horizontal surface 96 asshown on FIGURES7 and 8 of the drawings.

In therow with the loop portions of 73 are second loops 98 and 100adapted to support vacuum cups 102 for supporting the frame 76 on asubstantially vertical surface 104.

Fabric structure 106 similar to the fabric 20 is clamped between thecontiguous coil loops 78and 80 which surround the area of the fabric 106opposite edges 10% and p 110 of the fabric 106 project beyond theextremities of the frame 76 and the resilient character of the coilloops 7 8 and 80 holds the fabric structure 106 securely in abridgingrelation with the outline frame so that a soap cake 112 may be supportedon the fabric 106 in an area surrounded by the outline frame.

The free end 84 of the cross member 86 is supported in and surrounded bya loop 114 of the coil loop 78 all as shown best in FIGURES 6 and 7 ofthe drawings, thus the loops 9t) and 92 are held in such a position bythe bar 86 so that the vacuum cups 92 and 94 firmly support the soapcake holder of the invention and particularly that of modification shownin FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 of the drawmgs.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications of the present invention may be resorted to in a mannerlimited only by just interpretation of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a soap cake holder the combination of: an outline frame havingspaced frame portions substantially surrounding an area and flexibleforaminous fabric material removably supported on substantiallycoextensive with and abridging said spaced frame portions andsubstantially covering said area; upstanding portions on said spacedframe portions; portions of said fabric material fitted over saidupstanding portions said frame open below said fabric material.

2. In a soap cake holder the combination of: a wire frame; and fabricmaterial supported thereon and disposed to support a soap cake;continuous coil structure of said wire frame having a plurality ofresilient integral normally contiguous coils and substantiallysurrounding an area; said fabric material clamped between said normallycontiguous coils and bridging said area said frame open below saidfabric material.

3. In a soap cake holder the combination of: a wire frame; and fabricmaterial supported thereon and disposed to support a soap cake;continuous coil structure of said wire frame having a plurality ofresilient integral normally contiguous coils and substantiallysurrounding an area; said fabric material clamped between said normallycontiguous coils and bridging said area; a loop on one of said coilstructures; and a vacuum cup fixed to said loop said frame open belowsaid fabric material.

4. In a soap cake holder the combination of: an outline frame havingspaced frame portions substantially surrounding an area and flexibleforaminous fabric material removably supported on substantiallycoextensive with and abridging said spaced frame portions andsubstantially covering said area; upstanding portions on said spacedframe portions; portions of said fabric material fitted over saidupstanding portions; a vacuum cup secured to said outline frame saidframe open below said fabric material.

'5. In a soap cake holder the combination of: a wire frame; and fabricmaterial supported thereon and disposed to support a soap cake;continuous coil structure of said wire frame substantially surroundingan area; said fabric material clamped between said coil and bridgingsaid area; a crossbar integral with one of said coil struc tures andextending transversally across said area; a free end of said crossbarsupported by said coil structure; a loop of said last mentioned coilstructure surrounding said free end of said crossbar said frame openbelow said fabric material.

6. In a soap cake holder the combination of: a wire frame; and fabricmaterial supported thereon and disposed to support a soap cake;continuous coil structure of said wire frame substantially surroundingan area; said fabric material clamped between said coil and bridgingsaid area; a crossbar integral with one of said coil structures andextending transversally across said area; a free end of said cross barsupported by said coil structure; a loop of said last mentioned coilstructure surrounding said free end of said crqssbana support loopintegral with said frame portions and channel shaped seamed portions ofsaid flexible fabric 'fitted over said upstanding portions and formingopposed upstanding side structures for said soap cake holder said frameopen below said fabric material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSRutherford Feb. 13, 1934 Schnider Nov. 16, 1937 Schwarz Jan. 10, 1939Roberts et al Apr. 23, 1940 Ruhl Sept. 22, 1942 7 Mills June 23, 1953

1. IN A SOAP CAKE HOLDER THE COMBINATION OF: AN OUTLINE FRAME HAVINGSPACED FRAME PORTIONS SUBSTANTIALLY SURROUNDING AN AREA AND FLEXIBLEFORAMINOUS FABRIC MATERIAL REMOVABLE SUPPORTED ON SUBSTANTIALLYCOEXTENSIVE WITH AND ABRIDGING SAID SPACED FRAME PORTIONS ANDSUBSTANTIALLY COVERING SAID AREA; UPSTANDING PORTIONS ON SAID SPACEDFRAME PORTIONS; PORTIONS OF SAID FABRIC MATERIAL FITTED OVER SAIDUPSTANDING PORTIONS SAID FRAME OPEN BELOW SAID FABRIC MATERIAL.